Tough Life: A Sims 3 Story
by MuSicLuvr97
Summary: Xenah McLoughlin and her older brother, Etsuko, are raised by their father after their mother dies in a house fire back in their hometown, Riverview. Not wanting to remember that tragic incident, the McLoughlins moves to Sunset Valley to start a new life.


**** SUMMARY: Xenah McLoughlin and her older brother, Etsuko, are raised by their father after their mother dies in a terrible house fire back in their hometown, Riverview. Not wanting to remember that tragic incident, the McLoughlins moves to Sunset Valley to start their new life. It isn't long before everything goes downhill...again. Their father becomes abusive, Etsuko snaps and leaves the household, and Xenah becomes depressed. Will Xenah continue living through this?** **

**Tough Life: A Sims 3 Story**

**~Chapter 1: Numb~**

Daddy, my older brother, Etsuko, and I silently stood up under our apple tree in the front yard, mourning the death of  
my mother. Daddy was quietly sobbing, while Etsuko just stared at the gravestone with a blank expression on his face. He probably couldn't believe that our own mother was gone. _Dead. _I let a tear slide down my pale cheek as I hugged daddy. It's really hard to believe that my mother, Ariya McLoughlin, was never coming back again. I blame myself for this; for everything that happened yesterday. That…horrible fire. I am so stupid. It should've been _me_ instead. Mother was only trying to save us from the fire that _I _started. I didn't mean for any of this to happen. This is all _my _fault. _I'm _the reason why mother is never going to open her eyes and breathe again.

**~FLASHBACK~**

"Mother, I'm going to try to make myself a meal. I'm a big girl now." I happily said, going over to the refrigerator to grab one of those "microwave meals" and heat it in our microwave oven. Mother giggled and walked into the kitchen. "Oh, sweetie, I've already made autumn salad for everyone." Etsuko walked into the kitchen, chuckling. "Xenah, you're only six," he added, opening the fridge to grab a plate of autumn salad. "You don't want to burn anything." I crossed my arms. "Etsuko, I am mature for my age. I am pretty sure I know how to heat something up in the microwave." I said in a matter-of-factly way. Etsuko chuckled again. "We'll see. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go watch the Cooking Channel and enjoy mom's delicious, homemade autumn salad." he said before leaving the kitchen. Mother smiled. "Looks like your brother wants to be a chef just like your father. He's been watching the Cooking Channel ever since he was your age." I opened the fridge and grabbed a frozen meal. I want to be a chef too. That's why I want to start cooking things for myself. That way, I'll know how to do certain things when I grow up. "Oh,honey," Mother snapped me out of my thoughts. "If you do heat that up, try to be careful. That microwave heats things up pretty quickly, so keep an eye on the food. You don't want to burn anything on your first try." I smiled and hugged mother. "Thank you, mother! I'll be EXTRA careful! I promise!" Mother kissed my forehead. "Alright, little chef. I'm going to go clean up. I'll be upstairs if you need me." I nodded, watching mother leave the kitchen. '_Yes! I'm finally going to cook something on my own!' _I thought, putting the meal in the microwave oven. I set the time and pressed the "Start" button. '_I wish that daddy was home from work. Maybe he'd be happy seeing his only daughter cook something on her own for the first time.'_ "Oh! I have to go get Marshmellow!" I said to myself, running out of the kitchen. Marshmellow was my imaginary friend. I've had him ever since I was three. I hurried upstairs and went into my room. "Marshie, where are you?" I asked quietly, looking around. My room was pretty big, so he could be hiding anywhere. "Marshie is over here." I looked over at the closet and saw him walking out of it. "Marshie! Come downstairs! I am cooking something by myself!" My eyes widened right after I said that. Mother told me to keep my eyes on the food while it was cooking! Oh no! Suddenly, I began smelling smoke. "Xenah! Are you in the kitchen? Something's burning!" Etsuko called out from downstairs. I grabbed Marshie's hand and hurried back downstairs, only to see thick, black smoke coming from the small, microwave oven. "No! My food!" I screamed, dragging Marshie behind me. "Uh-oh. Xenah is very upset! Xenah burned her meal!" He said, panicking. Just as I was about to open up the microwave oven, it burst into flames. I screamed and began jumping up and down. Marshmellow did the same. Etsuko quickly walked out of the living room. "What the-" "My food! My food! Oh no! It's on fire!" I yelled, watching as the fire flames grew larger. Mother ran downstairs. "Etsuko, take your sister outside, now." she instructed, grabbing the fire extinguisher. Mother was so brave, but the fire was starting to spread! "M-Mother, don't g-" Etsuko picked me up and hurried out of the house. I held Marshmellow close to me, still staring in the kitchen. I didn't see mother anymore. Fire was everywhere. As soon as we got outside, daddy ran up to us, still wearing his apron. "Dad, mom's in the house! A fire started, and she told us to come out here." Etsuko explained. "What? Ariya!" Daddy ran into the house. I covered my ears, trying to block out the sound of the screeching, fire alarm. Etsuko held me close to him, saying something, but I couldn't hear him. It wasn't long before the firefighters came. Daddy was still in the house with mother. I watched the firefighters go into the house. "E-Etsuko,I'm scared." I whimpered, looking up at my older brother with teary eyes. I can tell that Etsuko wanted to cry, but he remained calm. "It's okay, Xenah. Lets just hope that mom and dad are okay." I closed my eyes, trying not to think about anything negative. '_Please let mother and daddy be okay. Please…' _After what seemed like hours of standing outside, daddy came back out with the firefighters. Mother was nowhere to be seen. "Dad! Where's mom? Is she okay?" Etsuko quickly asked, walking over to them. Daddy didn't say anything. The firefighters were talking to him. "We're really sorry, sir." I heard them say. Why were they sorry? I held Marshie's hand and walked behind Etsuko. "W-What happened?" I asked. I bit my lip when my voice cracked. Daddy looked at us with a sad expression on his face. His face was black from the smoke. "Your mother…she's gone." "What? No! What the he-" "We did the best we can. By the time we got inside, your mother was already…" One of the firefighters trailed off, not wanting to explain to us what he saw. I looked up at Etsuko, surprised. I've never seen him so upset before. "Thank you for trying." Daddy said in a shaky voice. He looked as if he was about to break down and cry. '_I-I killed mother. I didn't listen to her. I'm so..dumb!'_ I collapsed on my knees, panting. Great. I'm about to cry. Mother's dead because of me. I feel so…numb. It's like I can't even feel anything anymore. My mother and I were always close. Now that she's gone…part of me is gone too.

**~END OF FLASHBACK~**

After we found the remains of mother, we decided to bury her up under her favorite apple tree that she planted. Since she had the 'Green Thumb', she had a whole lot of plants in our front yard. Mother always enjoyed planting things. '_Mother, If you can hear me, I just want you to know that I am sorry. I miss you so much, already. This is all my fault! I should've listened to you.' _"Daddy, a-are you mad at me?" I asked quietly, looking up at the taller man. Daddy shook his head and hugged me. "Honey, this isn't your fault. It was an accident-" "B-But daddy, I didn't listen to her!" I sobbed, hiding my face in his black, long-sleeved shirt. "M-Mother would still be here if I stayed in the kitchen like she t-told me to!" Daddy rubbed my back soothingly. "It's okay, honey. It's okay." "Dad," Etsuko said in a low tone. "The taxi's here." I pulled away from daddy. "We're…moving?" Etsuko nodded and grabbed my hand. "Yes, Xenah. We can't stay here in Riverview. It'll only remind us of mom." I looked down at my shiny, black dress shoes. "Where are we moving to?" Daddy laid a rose on mother's grave and stood up. "We're moving to Sunset Valley." _'Sunset Valley. I guess we're going to start our new life…without mother.' _The three of us took one more look at mother's grave, then walked towards the taxi. Goodbye, Riverview. Goodbye, mother.


End file.
